293 research outputs found
The affects of forgiveness on the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder as a result of sexual trauma
This study continues research pertaining to the affects of forgiveness on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms resulting from sexual trauma. The research question asked whether or not the ability to forgive would reduce, increase, or have no affect upon PTSD symptoms. The hypotheses stated that the ability to forgive a specific traumatic sexual offense would correlate with fewer symptoms of PTSD, while the inability to forgive a specific traumatic sexual offense would correlate with a greater number of PTSD symptoms. Participants consisted of females eighteen and older, who had experienced sexual trauma, and stated that they had either forgiven or not forgiven their perpetrator/s. The first group was named âforgiveâ, and the second âunforgiveâ. Instruments included, a Demographic Survey, Offense Specific Forgiveness Measure, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Self Inventory. Within group data analysis was performed using the Pearsonâs Product-Moment Correlation; between group data was analyzed using the t-test for r. Within group correlations for both group âforgiveâ and âunforgiveâ yielded strong but insignificant results. When raw from both groups were combined, the resulting analysis showed no significant results. Between group data analysis, indicated a significant difference in forgiveness. There was no significant difference between groups for the dependent variable â PTSD. Results were carefully interpreted and were not used to predict or establish causation as they were not large enough to imply any relationship between the variables. The small number of participants as well as the predominantly white sample limited generalizations. Demographic data indicated that individuals with stated religious affiliation were less forgiving than those with no stated religious affiliation. Those same individuals were also traumatized as adults rather than as children/adolescents. The sample was predominantly white individuals with post-high school level education. The majority of perpetrators were outside of the biological family. Group âforgivenessâ scores indicated an inverse relationship between variables, supporting the hypothesis, while group âunforgiveâ scores did not. Between group scores indicated support for the correlation between stated forgiveness and actual forgiveness, while analysis of PTSD raw scores between groups was not significant. Mental health implications begin with the importance of age at occurrence of trauma, impacting the ability to forgive. It may be beneficial for researchers to study forgiveness across the lifespan, how forgiveness and unforgiveness are learned, cultural influence on learning, and the impact of education level upon forgiveness ability indicating how practitioners can utilize the most effective forgiveness interventions. Second, the spiritual belief of the client influences expressed and actual forgiveness. Forgiveness is a choice which empowers survivors of trauma. Although not every intervention is appropriate for every client, research supports the use of forgiveness intervention as an adjunct to mental health practice. Finally, further research into the impact of forgiveness interventions, their reliability and validity, and the long-term effects will aid clinicians in determining the part forgiveness will play in practice
The botanical integrity of wheat products influences the gastric distention and satiety in healthy subjects
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Maintenance of the botanical integrity of cereal kernels and the addition of acetic acid (as vinegar) in the product or meal has been shown to lower the postprandial blood glucose and insulin response and to increase satiety. However, the mechanism behind the benefits of acetic acid on blood glucose and satiety is not clear. We hypothesized that the gastric emptying rate could be involved. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the possible influence of maintained botanical integrity of cereals and the presence of acetic acid (vinegar) on gastric emptying rate (GER), postprandial blood glucose and satiety.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Fifteen healthy subjects were included in a blinded crossover trial, and thirteen of the subjects completed the study. Equicarbohydrate amounts of the following wheat-based meals were studied: white wheat bread, whole-kernel wheat bread or wholemeal wheat bread served with white wine vinegar. The results were compared with a reference meal consisting of white wheat bread without vinegar. The GER was measured with standardized real-time ultrasonography using normal fasting blood glucose <6.1 mmol/l or plasma glucose <7.0 mmol/l as an inclusion criterion. The GER was calculated as the percentage change in the antral cross-sectional area 15 and 90 minutes after ingestion of the various meals. Satiety scores were estimated and blood glucose was measured before and 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 min after the start of the meal.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The whole-kernel wheat bread with vinegar resulted in significantly higher (<0.05) satiety than the wholemeal wheat bread and white wheat bread with vinegar and the reference bread. Wheat fiber present in the wholemeal wheat bread, or the presence of wheat kernels per se, did not affect the postprandial blood glucose or GER significantly compared with white wheat bread, neither did the addition of vinegar to white bread affect these variables. There was no correlation found between the satiety with antral areas or GER</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The present study shows higher satiety after a whole-kernel wheat bread meal with vinegar. This may be explained by increased antral distension after ingestion of intact cereal kernels but, in this study, not by a lower gastric emptying rate or higher postprandial blood glucose response.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>NTR1116</p
Lapatinib plus Letrozole as First-Line Therapy for HER-2+ Hormone ReceptorâPositive Metastatic Breast Cancer
Reported are results from a subgroup analysis of postmenopausal women with hormone receptorâpositive human epidermal growth factor receptor 2âpositive metastatic breast cancer from a phase III trial of letrozole plus placebo versus letrozole plus lapatinib. The combination was well tolerated and more efficacious than letrozole alone
Patient-Specific Metrics of Invasiveness Reveal Significant Prognostic Benefit of Resection in a Predictable Subset of Gliomas
Object
Malignant gliomas are incurable, primary brain neoplasms noted for their potential to extensively invade brain parenchyma. Current methods of clinical imaging do not elucidate the full extent of brain invasion, making it difficult to predict which, if any, patients are likely to benefit from gross total resection. Our goal was to apply a mathematical modeling approach to estimate the overall tumor invasiveness on a patient-by-patient basis and determine whether gross total resection would improve survival in patients with relatively less invasive gliomas.
Methods
In 243 patients presenting with contrast-enhancing gliomas, estimates of the relative invasiveness of each patient's tumor, in terms of the ratio of net proliferation rate of the glioma cells to their net dispersal rate, were derived by applying a patient-specific mathematical model to routine pretreatment MR imaging. The effect of varying degrees of extent of resection on overall survival was assessed for cohorts of patients grouped by tumor invasiveness.
Results
We demonstrate that patients with more diffuse tumors showed no survival benefit (Pâ=â0.532) from gross total resection over subtotal/biopsy, while those with nodular (less diffuse) tumors showed a significant benefit (Pâ=â0.00142) with a striking median survival benefit of over eight months compared to sub-totally resected tumors in the same cohort (an 80% improvement in survival time for GTR only seen for nodular tumors).
Conclusions
These results suggest that our patient-specific, model-based estimates of tumor invasiveness have clinical utility in surgical decision making. Quantification of relative invasiveness assessed from routinely obtained pre-operative imaging provides a practical predictor of the benefit of gross total resection
Combined search for the quarks of a sequential fourth generation
Results are presented from a search for a fourth generation of quarks
produced singly or in pairs in a data set corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in
2011. A novel strategy has been developed for a combined search for quarks of
the up and down type in decay channels with at least one isolated muon or
electron. Limits on the mass of the fourth-generation quarks and the relevant
Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements are derived in the context of a
simple extension of the standard model with a sequential fourth generation of
fermions. The existence of mass-degenerate fourth-generation quarks with masses
below 685 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level for minimal off-diagonal
mixing between the third- and the fourth-generation quarks. With a mass
difference of 25 GeV between the quark masses, the obtained limit on the masses
of the fourth-generation quarks shifts by about +/- 20 GeV. These results
significantly reduce the allowed parameter space for a fourth generation of
fermions.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Measurement of the t t-bar production cross section in the dilepton channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The t t-bar production cross section (sigma[t t-bar]) is measured in
proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV in data collected by the CMS
experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.3 inverse
femtobarns. The measurement is performed in events with two leptons (electrons
or muons) in the final state, at least two jets identified as jets originating
from b quarks, and the presence of an imbalance in transverse momentum. The
measured value of sigma[t t-bar] for a top-quark mass of 172.5 GeV is 161.9 +/-
2.5 (stat.) +5.1/-5.0 (syst.) +/- 3.6(lumi.) pb, consistent with the prediction
of the standard model.Comment: Replaced with published version. Included journal reference and DO
Assessing ADHD symptoms in children and adults:Evaluating the role of objective measures
Background:
Diagnostic guidelines recommend using a variety of methods to assess and diagnose ADHD. Applying subjective measures always incorporates risks such as informant biases or large differences between ratings obtained from diverse sources. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that ratings and tests seem to assess somewhat different constructs. The use of objective measures might thus yield valuable information for diagnosing ADHD. This study aims at evaluating the role of objective measures when trying to distinguish between individuals with ADHD and controls. Our sample consisted of children (nâ=â60) and adults (nâ=â76) diagnosed with ADHD and matched controls who completed self- and observer ratings as well as objective tasks. Diagnosis was primarily based on clinical interviews. A popular pattern recognition approach, support vector machines, was used to predict the diagnosis.
Results:
We observed relatively high accuracy of 79% (adults) and 78% (children) applying solely objective measures. Predicting an ADHD diagnosis using both subjective and objective measures exceeded the accuracy of objective measures for both adults (89.5%) and children (86.7%), with the subjective variables proving to be the most relevant.
Conclusions:
We argue that objective measures are more robust against rater bias and errors inherent in subjective measures and may be more replicable. Considering the high accuracy of objective measures only, we found in our study, we think that they should be incorporated in diagnostic procedures for assessing ADHD
Search for supersymmetry in events with b-quark jets and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at 7 TeV
Results are presented from a search for physics beyond the standard model
based on events with large missing transverse energy, at least three jets, and
at least one, two, or three b-quark jets. The study is performed using a sample
of proton-proton collision data collected at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS
detector at the LHC in 2011. The integrated luminosity of the sample is 4.98
inverse femtobarns. The observed number of events is found to be consistent
with the standard model expectation, which is evaluated using control samples
in the data. The results are used to constrain cross sections for the
production of supersymmetric particles decaying to b-quark-enriched final
states in the context of simplified model spectra.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review
Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset
corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected
during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV.
The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the
couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and
right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary
mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b,
leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing
transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W'
boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to
the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for
masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC
data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed
coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant
improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe
Measurement of the Lambda(b) cross section and the anti-Lambda(b) to Lambda(b) ratio with Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda decays in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The Lambda(b) differential production cross section and the cross section
ratio anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) are measured as functions of transverse momentum
pt(Lambda(b)) and rapidity abs(y(Lambda(b))) in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7
TeV using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurements are
based on Lambda(b) decays reconstructed in the exclusive final state J/Psi
Lambda, with the subsequent decays J/Psi to an opposite-sign muon pair and
Lambda to proton pion, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of 1.9 inverse femtobarns. The product of the cross section times
the branching ratio for Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda versus pt(Lambda(b)) falls
faster than that of b mesons. The measured value of the cross section times the
branching ratio for pt(Lambda(b)) > 10 GeV and abs(y(Lambda(b))) < 2.0 is 1.06
+/- 0.06 +/- 0.12 nb, and the integrated cross section ratio for
anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) is 1.02 +/- 0.07 +/- 0.09, where the uncertainties are
statistical and systematic, respectively.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
- âŚ